Ludus Leonis
by proudtobeamerican18
Summary: Relationships, in all of their many forms, are often the backbone of our characters. How do these relationships prepare Minerva McGonagall for one of the hardest years of her life? Minerva McGonagall's story during the period of The Deathly Hallows.


_Disclaimer: I own nothing that is recognizable from either the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling or from Pottermore, also by J. K. Rowling._

_WARNING: Spoilers from all of the Harry Potter books and Pottermore._

_Summary: Professor Minerva McGonagall is known for her strict but fair disciplinarian teaching methods, but behind every severe teacher is a person that was made that way. Relationships, in all of their many forms, are often the backbone of our characters. How do these relationships prepare Minerva McGonagall for one of the hardest years of her life?_

_Italic: Memories _

_Lastly, thank you DarthVandola! She is the best Beta that I have ever subjected to one of my scattered and chaotic first drafts. Cruel and unusual punishment, indeed! :D_

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"_I'll be up in a moment, Minerva."_

"_Alright, Phin," she answered, turning her gaze from the floor below her to the room behind._

"_And watch the railing," he called as an afterthought, his voice growing distant as he moved further away. "I saw where a bit of the wood may be getting weak. I don't want you to fall."_

"_Alright, Phin," Minerva repeated, the hint of a small smile pulling at her lips at his concern. _

_Stepping onto the landing, Minerva allowed her eyes to roam over the small loft, from the dusty wooden floors to the deeply slanting roof. She ran her hand slowly over a low hanging support beam of the slanting ceiling, the dark antique wood smooth beneath her fingertips. Perfectly positioned in the middle of the ceiling, was a small four-paned window, set back in a small triangular recess that came to a point with a little roof of its own._

_As they had walked up the path, her first thought upon seeing the picturesque cottage was that it looked to have come from the muggle storybooks that her father had always read to her as a child. Small and quaint, with the eastern and western walls of stone, while the longer face of the house and its back boasted of an even white surface that must have been quite the splurge when it was first constructed. _

"_So," Elphinstone asked, his footsteps silent as he snuck up behind her, but Minerva found herself too enthralled with examining the charming little details to be startled. "What do you think of our little find?"_

"_It's beautiful," she admitted, straightening her posture and turning to face him with a more serious expression. "However, I believe that it would be wise to end our little adventure and clear off. Trespassing is not particularly a crime that I would feel justified in committing."_

_Elphinstone chuckled lightly at this, his tall form having to bend forward a bit as he moved deeper into the loft. He was not looking at her, but his hand ran over one of the wooden support beams, as well, as he studied the room with an analytical eye. _

"_I don't believe that anyone could justly blame a cat for being curious," he commented in an offhand tone, but the amusement was clear in the way that the corner of mouth twitched against his will. "Me, on the other hand…it is inexcusable."_

_Minerva pursed her lips at the pun, but could not deny that it was partially to hide an unbidden smile. The blasted man._

"_Are you ready?" Minerva pressed onwards, feeling a genuine sense of guilt at entering a dwelling that was obviously not occupied, but well-kept enough to testify to someone owning it, without permission. "There is still plenty of Hogsmeade left to trample upon, since you seem so very bound and determined to deviate from our usual walks."_

_At this, Elphinstone met her eyes with an unreadable expression in his own. Lightly leaning back against the railing, which did give a small groan until he shifted his weight, he folded his arms over his chest. _

"_I have a bit of a confession to make," he began, capturing her interest and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. He continued with a benevolent grin, "This isn't the first time that I've seen this cottage. Actually, I brought you here, rather specifically, to get your opinion on it."_

"_My opinion?" Minerva questioned, leaning slightly against the sill of the little window in its crevice, her hands dropping neatly to fold in her lap._

_Elphinstone let his arms drop to his side and buried his hands into his deep robe pockets, his gaze falling from her own as he continued with an uncharacteristic shyness. This meekness made Minerva inwardly cringe as she was reminded of how long he had waited for her and how many times she had rejected him. She softened her expression, feeling rather meek herself, now. _

"_You didn't expect me to have you travelling from London to Hogwarts everyday, did you?" he questioned, meeting her eyes again._

"_Phin, you don't have to-," Minerva began, but was cut off._

"_Yes…yes, I do," Elphinstone pressed, his expression earnest as he pushed away from the old railing and moved to stand closely in front of her. He went on quickly, before she could protest. "And I want to. I love Hogsmeade and you hate London. No, truly, Nerve…I had planned on moving from London when I retired, anyways. And this would be incredibly convenient for the both of us. Neither of us like big and gaudy, and this small and neat. And it's private and secluded. I know how much you prefer your privacy."_

_Minerva sighed with a bit of smile. She knew she had to say something or the man would continue his ramblings. _

"_Phin," she said, halting his words by taking his large hands in hers. "I love this cottage, I really do. I love everything about it."_

_Minerva noticed that his eyes lingered on their joined hands for several moments before he pulled his gaze to hers. She recognized the expression in his eyes: uncertainty. _

"_Minerva," he began hesitantly and, once again, she felt a deep pang of regret for what she had put him through for so many years. "Please…be completely honest with me, without fearing that you will hurt me in any way."_

_His eyes bore into hers, commanding her consent. Though such a look from anyone else would usually cause her to feel indignant, it was not so with Elphinstone. Never had he treated her as an inferior to be obedient and compliant, but as an equal that deserved his respect as much as he deserved hers. Minerva, of course, would comply._

"_Do you really want to marry me?" he asked, his expression severe, but his strong emotions tangible. He took an unconscious step forward, quite pinning her into the small crevice. "Or did you accept me for my sake? I know how much you have always valued your freedom and independence. I do not want to take any of that from you, no matter how little."_

_Minerva shifted away from the wall to stand at her full height, her eyes just at the level of his thin lips. Commanding the same rapt attention from him and receiving it without thought or question, she answered with a question of her own._

"_When have you ever known me to do anything that I did not want to do or believe in?" she countered, her voice growing oddly thick as she become incredibly aware of their close proximity._

_Almost immediately, Elphinstone's expression softened and the relief that he felt radiated off of him until Minerva could feel it too. Ever so painstakingly slowly, his hands gently left hers. Her stomach began to feel as though someone had hit her with a knotting curse and her breathing became much more of a priority. His hands travel feather-light over the length of her arms, his thumbs just barely grazing over the sides of her breasts on their way to her neck and then jawbone. _

_His kiss was barely a whisper on her lips. Soft, slow and hesitant, as though he feared that he may be taking liberties with the woman that he had longed after for so long. The utterly foreign feeling felt as though it would overcome her as strange tingling sensations erupted over her person, spreading from the core of her stomach to her fingers and toes. So long it had been since she had felt anything even remotely similar to this, that it caught her unaware. _

_As though slightly worried by her lack of response, Elphinstone's thumb ran over her cheeks softly, coaxing a response should she wish to give one and searching for any sign that he should put an end to the kiss. Accustomed to his gentlemanly and respectful nature, Minerva smiled lightly against his lips, aware that she would have to reassure him. The sensations under her skin enveloped her and she found herself more ready to accept them than even she would have ever imagined. She kissed him back and, almost immediately, Elphinstone reacted-deepening the kiss and stroking the loose hair at the nape of her neck through his fingers. The feelings that he was invoking in her were heady and spellbinding, all at once. She parted her lips when he did, welcoming the new but enthrallingly tantalizing emotions and sensations that he set ablaze within her chest._

"_Minerva," some unknown part of her consciousness registered the breathless words that he was uttering between kisses. "I love you so much." _

_Finding a whole new appreciation for those simple words, Minerva pulled her hands to his face. Deepening the kiss to a depth of passion that she had never known, it was with much regret that she pulled away some moments later, allowing them both to catch their breath._

_Gazing up into his eyes, an entirely new realization struck her. She did love him in return. She loved this man that held her so much more deeply than she had believed, even the week, day, or hour before. _

"_I-I…," Minerva stammered, for perhaps the first time in her memory, always feeling rather awkward when openly speaking her emotions and feelings aloud. "I love you, too, Phin."_

_A brilliant smile broke over the much older man's face. Though she had always thought Elphinstone to be an attractive man, especially for his age, she had never seen him look more handsome. Raising her fingers to his forehead, she ran them lightly over the soft lines that had come from many years of experience and the wisdom that that entailed. She traced her fingers over the hairline that she had witnessed fade from black, to gray, to salt and pepper, and to the snow white that it was today, with only a hint of gray left at his temples. _

"_Nerve?" Elphinstone questioned, smiling softly at her fingers' exploration of his facial features. _

_Minerva met his gaze, anticipation building up within her chest, once more. Slowly, he leaned back towards her waiting lips and…._

"Professor McGonagall?"

Minerva turned sharply towards the sound of Hagrid's voice, her mind tearing away from the memory with such an emotional pain that she almost felt it physically.

"I'm sorry ter be disturbin' ya, bu' if ya were still wantin' ter ride the train, we'd bes' be hurryin' on," Hagrid apologized politely.

"I will be down in a moment," Minerva answered, looking over the old wooden railing of the loft, resting her hands upon it and causing the smallest of groans from the wood, just as it always had those many years ago.

"I'll jus' be waitin' fer ya outside then," Hagrid grinned, grabbing his flowered pink umbrella from its perch against the front door archway.

As he left, Minerva turned back to the loft in which she stood. No longer was it an empty room, but a proper office. He had surprised her one afternoon upon her return from a day of teaching with an old but sturdy desk and comfortable chair against one wall, while on the opposite he had transfigured a merry little fireplace, complete with chimney and two wingback chairs. The three or so feet of wall left before the roof slanted in was now covered in a short bookshelf that stretched the length of the wall and was stuffed to its bursting point full of books on any topic that she could desire.

In the recess with the small four-paned window that she had grown very attached to whilst she lived in this place, with Elphinstone, he had created her a small window seat. No wider or deeper than two feet, Minerva had always rather enjoyed curling up into the enclosed space to read, or write, or even just rest in the warmth from the sun that the perfectly positioned window offered. As silly as it seemed, it had become rather an area of particular partiality for both, for sentimental reasons.

Minerva sniffed away the thought, straightening her shoulders and neck. This was no time for her to reminisce. And this certainly was _not the_ time to lose her head to emotions and fall subject to the pain of recalling her loss, yet again. She had come back to visit her old home with a purpose and she was determined to see it through.

Turning abruptly, she fairly flew down the angular stairway that lead to the old kitchen on the first floor landing. Withstanding the urge to take one last look around her beloved little cottage, Minerva swept outside, closing the deep green wooden door behind her. Hagrid was waiting for her at the edge of the sunny glade, where her small cottage-home was situated, surrounded by a barrier of trees with only a small gap between-the pathway that allowed access and would branch off further along, either to the village of Hogsmeade or the the gateway of Hogwarts.

"I am ready, Hagrid," Minerva said with a small smile at the concern in his eyes, trying to relieve his worry. "Thank you for coming with me, although, I assure you, it wasn't necessary."

"Is' no' tha' I don' think ya coul' handle yerself, Professor," Hagrid replied, his tone apologetic, but his resolution firm. "I jus' feel safer knowin' tha' ya weren' by yerself."

Minerva grinned softly at the sweet consideration and reached up to pat Hagrid's enormous hand gratefully. They started towards the overgrown pathway and Minerva stopped at its mouth.

"I know, Hagrid," Minerva answered him, casting a final glance over the quaint little cottage in the glade, her safe haven. "You are quite the friend and I thank you for it."

What little skin of Hagrid's face that was visible through his bushy hair turned red with the blush from her compliment. However, Minerva did not see this.

Raising her wand high above her head, she wordlessly cast her security and concealment spells. Although it was of her own doing, she could not help but feel her heart turn cold as she watched the beautiful and inviting trees and vast shrubbery surrounding the cottage transform, darkening and disfiguring to look like those of the Forbidden Forest that bordered it from behind. The span of grass began to wither and wilt before their eyes, leaving behind only lifeless and dry dirt in its wake. The entirety of her once lovely home grew darker and darker as the sun became obscured by the tall trees that were determined to shut it out.

When the transformation finally ceased and all became quiet and still, Minerva turned back to her companion and their path that would lead them on to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express. They left the cottage behind in silence, Hagrid seeming to sense Minerva's desperate need for quiet, lest she lose her reserve completely.

She was protecting her home, she had to remind herself. Whether she lived there or not, it had been her home…_their_ home, and she would be damned before she saw it overtaken and invaded by Death Eaters or the like. Yes, she was protecting it. Killing off its beauty and serenity would protect it from unfriendly eyes.

It was necessary, if she were to keep her and Elphinstone's beloved cottage untainted and unmarred by the filth that was already overtaking and running rampant about Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, alike.

Yet, no matter how much she tried to convince herself, she could not shake the feeling that she had just killed off what little bit of Elphinstone Urquart that she had had left to cling to.

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_Alrighty, thank you for reading! And please review to let me know what you think. :) Another chapter to be coming up soon._


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